Chapters “Aw, cmon Fluttershy, you gotta play!” The yellow Pegasus in question simply shrunk.
“It just seems so violent…”
“All of our friends are playing it, you can’t just back out!”
“Oh my… Even Rarity?”
“It wasn’t easy, but we managed to convince her to play.” Dash didn’t want to think about what she had to do to get Rarity on board. Modeling dresses was something no mortal mare should sit through…
“Oh, well, if you all are playing…”
“ALRIGHT! Trust me, we’re all gonna have a ton of fun. Make sure to look up what you can so you at least know what we’re getting into. Celestia knows Twilight has…”
All six friends prepared their headphones, microphones, and miscellaneous snacks before opening up a freshly downloaded HerdSpeak client and logging onto the server Twilight prepared for them. Unfortunately, it was apparent their meeting would not go as planned as soon as one of them spoke.
“So, we’re all playing Equestrian Republic, right?” came an athlete’s voice.
“What in tarnation are ya talkin’ ‘bout, Dash? I thought we were joinin’ the New Conglomareate!”
“User muted. User muted. ” Twilight’s admin commands acted with ruthless efficiency.
“Girls, please be reasonable. Everypony knows we’re fighting for the Luna Sovereignty.”
A loud gasp was audible over five mares’ speakers.
“Ohmigosh Twilight! We have to have our FREEDOM! The Equestrian Republic probably banned cake!”
“User muted. ”
“I'm sorry, but I thought we were joining the Equestrians…”
“User muted. ”
The channel was silent. Dash and Applejack fumed in front of their computer screens. Pinkie Pie and Fluttershy were concerned they did something to make Twilight angry. Only Rarity and Twilight had permission to speak anymore. The fashionista decided to use this time to inject her own thoughts.
“Twilight, I also believe we should play for the Luna, but maybe instead of muting everypony you could just use your lessons in friendship to convince them?”
Twilight sighed over the microphone.
“Alright. Listen, girls, I know we all mostly disagree on who to fight for, but we’re supposed to go as a team. If we split up we’ll all fail, and it might put holes in the beautiful friendship we’ve made. Alright?”
“User-User-User-User Unmuted. ”
“So, with that out of the way, we’re playing Luna Sovereignty, right?”
And in a moment of surprising collaboration, four mares responded collectively,
“NO!”
Half an hour later, the number of groups in the Herdspeak channel tripled. One with a librarian and a fashionista, one with a baker and a farmer, and one with an athlete and an animal-lover.
“So, Pinkie, you ready ta fight fer freedom?”
“Am I ever! Ohmygosh we’re gonna get some sweet guns and we’ll shoot them and earn our right for cupcakes and cake and pie and fritters and Danishes and croissants and OH MY GOSH what do those Equestrians have to EAT?!”
“I dunno. Oatmeal?”
“OATMEAL? ARE YOU CRAZY?!”
“How ‘bout we play the game already? The launcher ain’t the most interestin’ thing ta look at…”
“Um… Rainbow Dash? I don’t know what to do…”
“Have you launched the game yet?”
Silence.
“M…maybe?”
The sound of a hoof making abrupt contact with a forehead sounded into Fluttershy’s speakers.
“Rarity, the character creator isn’t nearly as important as you make it out to be…”
“Wrong! I have a chance to reshape my image! Sure, there may only be gender, mane color and coat color options, but I must do what I can to make sure I look fashionable in combat.”
“At least I don’t have to sit and wait for you to customize your vehicles…”
“You can customize vehicles?!”
Twilight’s hooves hit the floor of the Reconstruction Chamber. He white coated unicorn lifted her XM98 Sniper Rifle to the right of her pink mane. Rarity’s character emerged, sporting the same colors as its creator. Rarity brought up an Artemis Scout Rifle and the two ponies proceeded into the massive shielded Warp Gate. Scythes appeared to bathe in the desert sun around the central building as Magriders amassed and Galaxies loaded up lines of waiting ponies. Twilight pulled up her map and checked for territory that seemed like it was begging for such an invasion fleet. She placed a message in chat.
TheBookinator:Might I inquire where this substantial collection of forces will be departing?
Only a moment later, another player quickly answered.
HumansAreReal:The Luna Archives has been captured by the Equestrian Republic. We plan to take it back in the name of the Luna.
“Twilight, that’s pretty far away from here. How are we going to get there?”
“I think I know. Apparently it’s called a Flash.”
Rarity gazed over at a pony driving an ATV in circles.
“As long as we’re not driving whatever that pony is driving. It looks silly and it’ll get the wind in my character’s mane.”
“About that…”
“Pinkie, I’m not sure that that’s what yer supposed ta do with a
The pink pony in question was performing near impossible flips and spins in a fully loaded Galaxy, Applejack’s Vanguard observing from a safe distance. She pitied the poor ponies whose screens had to be filled with the spinning dropship’s ever-rotating camera.
“Pinkie, we need ta bring those ponies to Zurvan Amp Station, not make ‘em vomit onta their keyboards…”
“Jackie, I thought the New Conglomareate were about freedom!”
“They’re ‘bout fighting ta keep it, and if we don’t fight, we can’t have it. So stop spinnin’ and let ‘em fight.”
“But Jackie…”
“Pinkie, take yer big plane and get to Zurvan. I’ll do what I can down on the ground ta make sure ya don’t get shot down on the way.”
“For FREEDOM AND CUPCAKES!”
“How ‘bout just ‘Fer Freedom’?”
Pinkie was already doing corkscrews upward and rose above the canyon’s walls, before leveling out and flying towards Zurvan. Applejack attempted to keep up below, but the Vanguard wasn’t meant to keep up with pink ponies playing perilously with planes.
“Aww yeah!” An orange Pegasus with a gray mane inspected her newly-purchased Mosquito. Fluttershy was in a Sunderer was parked nearby, equipped with an AMS. It was filling up quickly, the Equestrians all too eager to get into the battle in force. She had chosen to be a Healer, before realizing that she would be taking points away from the driver, instead switching to Mechanic as soon as she could in order to keep the troop transport alive. Rainbow had surprisingly not chosen Mechanic herself, deciding that a Pegasus’s wings would help her survive an ejection out of an injured aircraft and keep her combative if she survived. All around Prowlers and Lightnings readied their cannons while Liberators and Mosquitos tested their thrusters.
“Fluttershy, where is your driver headed? I’ll provide air support.”
Butterfly120:Um… excuse me, but where are we going?
TimeLord10: We’re driving to Hvar Tech Plant to capture it while the Luna are otherwise occupied. MUFN has been distracting them by capturing and holding onto the Luna Archives. We’ll deploy and swarm it before they know what hit them, and cut off their Magrider production.
“He says we’re going to Hvar Tech Plant.”
“I can read, Fluttershy. Let’s get this moving. For the Equestrian Republic!”
"F-for the Equestrian Republic..."
Author's Note
I've been playing too much Planetside, so I decided to spend my spare time more productively. By writing about Planetside. All comments will be read and appreciated!
“Twilight, this game looks so blocky…” Rarity’s complaint rang over loud and clear to the librarian in question as they drove in Flashes to the Luna Archives. Overhead, Scythes and Galaxies fanned out in all directions to reinforce the front. They passed a line of Magriders before Twilight pulled over and responded.
“Press Escape, and click Settings. Click Graphics, the Graphics Tab, and click High.” A series of clicking was heard over the channel.
“OH DEAR CELESTIA IT’S SO PRETTY! The dust and the grass and the vehicle and the planes and ME and… and…” Twilight giggled at Rarity’s overreaction.
“Thank Celestia I don’t have to hear your reaction to Ultra graphics. You have to go into the game files to enable that.”
“Could you… maybe… show me later, darling?”
Twilight sighed. “I guess. Might as well set mine to it while we’re at it.”
Less than a minute later the concentration of tanks and aircraft increased. Smoke was visible over a hill, so Twilight and Rarity parked their Flashes. Twilight peered through the scope and observed the situation. On top of the mesa sat the Luna Archives. Luna Sunderers were parked outside the jump pads, but everypony that flew up was cut down by heavily armored Alicorns. Bursters and AA Missiles chased away any Scythes or Liberators, fire so thick not even an armored Galaxy could drop troops.
“Twilight, if you can get me through onto a jump pad, I have a plan.”
“Acknowledged. Move to target, give a signal when in position. I’ll clear a pad, but Healers will get them back up shortly, so move quickly.” Rarity sprinted over to the nearest Jump Pad. Several Mechanics were hanging around a deployed Sunderer, discussing tank certifications in proximity chat. Rarity ignored it.
“In position. Clear the pad now, darling.” The white unicorn waited a few seconds. Five shots. Five dead Equestrians.
“Pad clear, Healers en route. Move!”
Rarity sprinted onto the glowing blue disc as she activated her cloak. She flew in a high arc towards the facility, getting a good view of the location of troops in the base. Nopony was on the Control Point, so she set her goal there. She zoomed past the Healers who were too busy reviving the dead Equestrians to notice the shimmer of light dash into a nearby building. Rarity hid in the corner of a room while her cloak regenerated. She saw a small conversation in Proximity Chat.
BrushaBrush:How long do we have to hold this base?
TheGreatMuffin:As long as we can, Brusha. We have to at least buy enough time for TIME’s platoon to move in, so we’re not leaving till one of us is dead.
BrushaBrush:Ma’am, Magriders approaching from the South.
Rarity exited the building and gazed upon the Control Point. Empty. She sprinted over to it, aware of its blinking icon actively betraying her position. She flipped the point over to her side before quickly retreating back inside. She heard the clank of many footsteps. An explosion. Three kills popped up on her screen, the Proximity Mine she planted exceeding its expected efficiency. The point stayed in her favor. She moved quickly through the building, and emerged on another side. A pony on an aircraft terminal, easy prey. Her Artemis filled the Equestrian with hot plasma before he had a chance to exit the menu he was in. A Healer ran upwards, oblivious. Another kill to the Fashionista. She tried to turn when her shields dropped completely in a loud blast of lead. She turned to see an Equestrian Earth Pony, holding a Shotgun at her. As she prepared for the second shot, the armored pony hit the deck.
“Target down,” sounded a Librarian’s voice. “How are things going?”
“Good, and I know how we can capture this facility. Gather a group of Pegasi; the roofs are the only safe place here for soldiers. I’ll distract them as long as I can.”
Twilight spotted a standing Luna force, awaiting orders to move in. She ran over to them and tried to get them aware of the situation.
TheBookinator:Listen up, everypony. I just got orders to go Pegasus and swarm the roof.
MareDoWell98:I’ll get my squad to try it. But if you’re just getting us killed…
The group of soldiers ran up to the Sunderer’s Infantry Terminal and switched their class. Pony after pony grew wings thanks to the transport’s built in Magite Synthesizer. Twilight once again was forced to consider how impossibly wealthy Magite Systems must be by now, with all the technology they’ve invented and sold. She snapped out of her thoughts and joined the attacking squad of Pegasi. The leader pulled out his Beamer and fired one shot into the air, signaling the attack. Twilight’s headphones filled with the sound of ponies stepping onto the jump pad and being flung at the facility. Before the Alicorns had a chance to slaughter the team, the Pegasi activated their wings and flapped over onto the roof, safe from enemy fire. The squad fanned out to the sides of the building. Twilight tried to keep up with their semi-coordinated movements, but they were obviously communicating between themselves and directing forces. The jump pads were clear once again, the Healers no longer able to revive the ambushed forces. The squad leader placed a message to all nearby forces.
MareDoWell98:Pads are clear, let’s wipe up these foals! For Luna!
Twilight watched as the air around the station filled with flying ponies, the Equestrians nowhere near equipped or numerous enough to hold back the anxious attackers. The doors of the Rebirthing Chamber quickly became bathed in suppressing Plasma, the defenders no longer able to even exit the room. All the Equestrian Republicans could do was sit down and watch as the control bar lost its red color and grew purple. Barely a minute passed before the Luna’s emblem popped up on the screen, and Princess Luna’s voice told them they had captured the facility, despite being just one of a few prerecorded messages.
Before the Luna had finished celebrating, a brief announcement appeared at the top of their screens.
Facility Lost
“Twilight, isn’t Hvar Tech Plant in our territory?”
Twilight pulled her map onscreen. Indeed, the source of their Magrider production had been captured by the Equestrian Republic.
“Darling, this is simply unacceptable! We cannot allow those tyrants to maintain control of our Tech Plant!”
Twilight didn’t respond. Instead, her character dropped to the ground, dead by some mysterious force. The killfeed claimed Twilight had killed herself.
“Twilight, what happened?!”
“I redeployed, you can do so on the map screen. Spawn at Sandstone Gulch Mining, we’re gonna take back the Tech Plant.”
Rainbow Dash’s Mosquito was landed at Hvar’s large landing pad, resupplying. In the distance she saw a swarm of Magriders, Lightnings, and Sunderers approaching from the Southwest. She placed a message into the chat.
Let’sDaringDoThis: Alright, boys. We have company, and they’re not here for tea. Let’s show them that the Equestrian Republic means business.
Author's Note
I apologize for this chapter being so late. It's been nearly done for almost two weeks now, but I couldn't get around to finishing and publishing it. I'll try to get the next chapter up much sooner. Coming soon(er)! The Defense of Hvar!
Rainbow Dash refused to be shot down. Or shot. Her Mosquito flew through the air, shrugging off the debris of Scythes blown up seconds before, and just barely missing the ground from near-vertical bombing runs. There was only one thing that could possibly stop her lightning-fast killing spree. Ammunition. It already stopped her twice, and she was running out of Rotary bullets again. She used her fresh Certs and bought another rank into Ammunition Capacity. She already had three ranks into it, but could not bring herself to deconstruct her precious Mosquito. She banked around another hoodoo, flattening out her bird and searching for targets. However, instead of targets, she found the most lethal anti-aircraft weapon POE put in the game. The tree. She ejected and activated her wings, trying desperately to slow down and avoid landing in the middle of an enemy force. She carefully landed on a tree branch and collected herself.
“Ooh, Dash, are you alright? I saw your Mosquito crash…”
“Yeah, I bailed in time. Let’s see what I can do above enemy lines.”
Dash descended down the tree and snuck up on two unsuspecting Snipers. She raised her Chainblade and stabbed it in the head of the Luna Sovereign, piercing the shield and sinking into the helmet. The sniper dropped to the ground, and a kill message popped up on her screen. TheBookinator, Sniper, Battle Rank 3. Two seconds later and another one. Passion4Fashion, Sniper, Battle Rank 4. She observed the area around her and flew back into the tree before hearing a message from the Herdspeak announcer.
“User entered your channel. User entered your channel.”
A familiar voice flooded her headphones.
“Rainbow, did you stab both of us?”
“Uh… probably. To be fair, you heretics did have it coming.”
“Heretics? Darling, we’re only embracing the future.”
“Heh, you lame-o’s did a good job of embracing my knife in your skulls.”
Twilight growled at the retort before both unicorns angrily left to their own channel.
“Another victory for the Equestrian Republic, right, Flutters?”
The channel remained silent.
“Shy? You there?”
Rainbow Dash pulled up her map and looked for her friend’s location. Fluttershy was supposedly inside a building, not moving. Dash checked to see if the animal caretaker was dead, but instead, found Fluttershy had changed classes to an Alicorn. Dash floated down from the tree and galloped towards her friend’s position, finding a group of Luna waiting outside the door. Heavy gunfire could be heard inside. Rainbow rolled a grenade to the Luna and killed all but one, a fact rectified by a quick burst from her sidearm. She walked in the doorway and up the stairs, finding the floor covered in dead Luna. She peeked her head above the top of the stairs to see Fluttershy’s character backed into a corner, firing both her guns and mowing down a horde of ponies coming in the other door. Not more than a second later Fluttershy’s side-mounted chainguns started clicking. One Luna Healer stood in front of the Alicorn, her futuristic Assault Rifle aimed right at her. Fluttershy’s wings flared out as she activated her charge and slammed the Healer into the wall, aiming her horn and spearing the cultist through the neck. The Luna dropped to the ground, and Dash released the breath she had been holding, forgetting that her mic was still on. Fluttershy saw Rainbow’s head and literally jumped, before examining all the bodies around her and relaxing even less. Rainbow climbed the last few stairs and approached Fluttershy, the Alicorn’s fear almost silly to her.
“Oh, Dash, I’m so sorry, I just… I wanted to see what the Alicorn was a-and… then I got stuck in this building and… all these Luna came and I tried to make them stop b-but… please don’t get mad at me for taking all of these kills from you!”
“Fluttershy, that was awesome! Why didn’t you tell me you were such a beast as an Alicorn?”
“I sort of haven’t played it at al-” The yellow Pegasus was interrupted by a blast of white on their screens and a deafening noise playing through their headphones. Through the confusion Dash targeted and shot down an enemy Pegasus who most likely threw the flash grenade at them, but once their sound returned to normal they could hear the sound of heavy hoofsteps nearby.
“D-Dash… what is that?”
Fluttershy’s question was answered by a Luna Alicorn slowly walking up the stairs, aiming its guns and them and unleashing hot plasma upon the room.
“Fluttershy, run!” The Equestrians sprinted out of a side entrance to the building, Fluttershy’s heavy armor absorbing most of the Alicorn’s lasers. They hopped down from the balcony and ran into a nearby building, trying to make it to cover before the Luna Alicorn got them into view. They rounded the doorway to see a strange vertical generator in the middle of a large room, and a Luna Sniper crouched right at the side.
“SCU compromised.”
The Generator lit on fire and alarm sirens blared as Dash quickly lined up and dropped the Sniper. Passion4Fashion again. She could imagine Rarity laughing at her. Fluttershy ran up to the Generator to find a way to fix it, but as soon as she got close, a Luna Proximity Mine detonated right under her hoof, the Alicorn dropping to the floor.
“Fluttershy, no!”
Rainbow Dash ran up to try and find a way to raise her friend and fix the generator, but plasma fire behind her signaled the Luna Alicorn had caught up with them. Dash tried to run away, but her shields were dropping fast as shot after shot hit her. The door was only a few meters away. Her shields were down. So close to safety! Half health. She was at the doorway! Three bars left. She was through it! Safe! Dash rounded a corner and cut off the Alicorn’s sight on her. She took a second to breathe and get her shields up, right before her shields went down and her character stopped breathing. She looked at her first death screen since installing the game. TheBookinator, Sniper, XM98.
“Twilight…” Dash growled at her computer.
Rainbow respawned at Hvar, but before she could leave the spawn room she heard a loud explosion.
“SCU destroyed.”
The Pegasus tried to remember what the SCU was for, but could not bring it to her memory.
“Rainbow, I can’t spawn at Hvar anymore.”
At that moment Rainbow remembered that SCU stood for Spawn Control Unit. She had to make this life count. She ran upstairs and through the protected shields, carefully flying and crawling through a window. She rain through the building, across a walkway, and flew up onto one of several large tankers. She had to hurry; while Magriders and infantry couldn’t see her up here, and passing Scythes of Liberators would quickly spot and shred her. She glided up onto a ledge in the main facility after a short jetpack recharge, and then into the main elevator. She descended onto the roof of the main facility, covered by the landing pad. She hopped off the front and onto the dirt road in front of the facility, before hearing a familiar noise behind her. She turned to see a fresh Magrider bearing down on her, cannon lowering to point right at her. She dashed to the side, trying to make it behind a wall before the Magrider could fire at her. She just passed a barricade before a near-miss dropped her shields, but she made it into a building.
A quick shield recharge and she dashed out of the other side, coming face to face with a fully loaded Sunderer, all 12 passenger slots filled. Dash pulled out a C4 detonator. If she was gonna go out, this was a sufficient bang to go out with. The top-mounted turrets started firing at her, but she was too low for them to hit. Luna soldiers started exiting the vehicle, either to get away from the impending explosion or to kill her before it happened. She reached the side of the Sunderer. It was still deployed, preventing its escape. She threw one stick on the side. Lasers started firing, bringing down her shields. Another stick. She knew she was going to die. But she was going to preserve the peace of the Equestrian Republic in this one small act. The elimination of this enemy vehicle was the most important thing on Auraxis. Her health was nearly gone. The whole scene played in slow motion. Her hoof hit the detonator. Light clouded her vision. She heard nothing but a loud ringing, slowly dulling down. For a second, she could see paradise. She then hit the floor of a Magite-Reconstruction Chamber. She separated her mind from the game, un-immersed herself in the world to get a grip on reality. She looked back on the screen, surveying what damage she did. A rank up. 10 certification points. Twelve kills. Two maxes. Five extreme menaces. And two very important Snipers. TheBookinator and Passion4Fashion.
Dash leaned back into her chair, closed her eyes, and smiled.
The battle may have been a defeat, but in that moment, she was the victor.
Applejack destroyed another tank with her Shrike. The Prowlers kept coming, but the New Conglomareate would not falter. Along with freedom came the freedom to hold tiny outposts in the middle of nowhere, so that was what the forces there decided to do. Natural chokepoints funneled Prowlers and Sunderers into death traps watched by Heavy Assaults. Truly, Palos Solar Array was a fortress in disguise.
“Hoo-wee! Pinkie, how many Certs ya got?”
“Ohmigosh, we’re RICH! I already have, like, a kermillion Certs!”
“Uh… I’m no math wizard, but I don’t think that’s a real number…”
“Of course it is! It’s ten wazillions!”
Applejack took the smart way out and stopped questioning the pink pony. She checked her map for potential targets, focal points of enemy armor. Plenty to the East as usual. The proximity of Saurva Bio Lab made it easy for the Equestrian Republic to resupply, but no amount of tanks could pierce the stalwart defense of Auraxis’ freedom fighters.
Applejack looked up at the chat, and noticed as a peculiar player said something strange.
LetsDaringDoThis: Soldiers of the Equestrian Republic! Fear not! Today the skies rain death! Loyalty until Harmony! Attack!
Applejack wondered why such a person said something so strange. She then wondered what that windy noise was. She then wondered why the sun no longer touched the ground. She then wondered where all her health went. She then wondered why her screen filled with white and yellow explosions. She then wondered why nobody noticed the massive swarm of Liberators and Mosquitos flying towards them earlier. She then wondered where to spawn.
“Applejack… what just happened?”
“Ah think Rainbow Dash just called a fleet of planes to push us out.”
Pinkie didn’t say much after that. Or anything at all. Applejack decided to leave her be, but noticed Pinkie spawned at Tawrich Tech Plant. She decided to follow her to see if she could find what the confectioner was up to. Pinkie ran to the main facility and took a teleporter to the turret level, and spawned a Galaxy dropship.
“AJ, get in. We’re going flyswatting.”
As they neared a facility in the desert, Pinkie introduced the Galaxy to a swarm of Mosquitos in the most sensible way imaginable: By ramming full speed into three of them. Applejack hopped between turrets and opened fire, taking down two more before anything could react. Two mosquitos opened fire with rocket pods from both sides, forcing Pinkie Pie to drop down. Conveniently enough, the enemy pilots could not aim down fast enough and destroyed each other. A Burster Alicorn opened fire, pelting the belly of the plane with flak. Pinkie completely disabled the vertical thrust, sending the Galaxy falling downwards. The Alicorn realized too late what her plan was, before getting hit by the Galaxy’s armored hull and crushed into the ground. Before she could get airborne again, a Prowler opened fire on the temporarily landed Galaxy. Pinkie rose into the sky again and dived straight towards the tank, both Earth Ponies ejecting as the dropship collided straight into the tank and exploded, killing the Equestrian gunners inside. They ran for cover behind a coral formation and noticed a convoy of Sunderers coming up the road. C4 detonators emerged beneath wicked grins.
Rainbow Dash sat bored as the Sunderer she was sitting in slowly reached its destination.
“Fluttershy, can’t these things go any faster?”
“Dash, the drivers said they have full Racer Chassis…”
“Why didn’t we just fly there?”
“I heard there was too much anti-air…”
Rainbow groaned. It was going to be a boring-
Applejack and Pinkie Pie laughed their tails off at the burning wreckage formerly known as three full Sunderers. Among the flashing list of dead Equestrians was none other than LetsDaringDoThis and Butterfly120, Rainbow Dash and Fluttershy.
“Yee-haw! Today is a good day ta die!”
The Earth Ponies turned around to find the twin barrels of a Prowler staring them in the face.
“Ah guess ah spoke too soon…”
AJ and Pinkie emerged on opposite sides of the main spawn room. They returned to the Warpgate and found the NC amassing. Liberators hovered overhead as bored Reaver pilots did flips in the air and landed on each other.
Sailin’:Departing to engage ER Air Zerg in two minutes.
“Ya’ll wanna go with ‘em?”
Pinkie gasped audibly. “Ohmigosh, I thought you’d never ask!”
Applejack approached the Air Terminal and a 3D model of a Reaver appeared in the holographic display. She upgraded the Reload Speed of her Vortek Rotary before pushing her hoof through the green “Spawn” button. The nanites making up her character dissolved before reassembling inside the body of a Reaver halfway across the Warpgate. She checked all the systems within. Forward Thrusters active, Vertical Thrusters ready, Wing Flaps responding, Afterburner primed, Rotary cannon loaded, A2A missiles connected, and Fire Suppression available. On the other side of the Warpgate Pinkie’s Reaver assembled, and immediately started doing backflips.
“Weeeeeeeee!” she exclaimed.
The planes assembled began to lift off and move through the canyons. Applejack followed behind as they swerved in between the rocks. Far to the north a massive cloud of aircraft began rendering. One could describe the clump of Mosquitos as a swarm if they were feeling symbolic. Any NC in Zurvan Amp Station below were cowering in buildings as the ground outside was glassed by explosives raining from above. The NC Liberators raised out of the canyons as the Reavers below surged forward. AJ slammed her Afterburner and rapidly accelerated with them. The Mosquitos slowly turned and began engaging. Nose guns opened fire as the two fleets entered the dogfight of a lifetime. The farmpony banked hard to the right and started tailing a Mosquito. The distracted pilot stood no chance against a direct burst from her Reaver and exploded into pieces. Bullets zoomed over her cockpit as another Equestrian opened fire, and a few hit her rear. Applejack slammed her airbrakes and spun around, facing the other plane head on. She activated her vertical thrusters and flew over the other player as she rained Rotary rounds from above, quickly dispatching the Equestrian.
Pinkie was being chased by 5 different Mosquitos as her Flak Armor absorbed the few shots that actually landed. She had already made 4 pilots crash into each other in an attempt to follow the crazy mare. Pinkie turned off her thrusters and dropped rapidly as a Mosquito tried to ram her head on, only to miss completely and instead smash into another one behind her behind her. Make that 6 pilots.
Applejack pulled out of the intense dogfight and set her sights on an ER Liberator. Her Vortek rounds essentially pinged off its armor, barely making a scratch into the heavy plating. She swapped to her A2A Missiles and began locking onto the bomber, before releasing a guided missile in its direction. The rocket smashed into the hull and tore a fin off, forcing the Liberator to re-adjust. A second missile blew the whole wing off and sent the gunship spinning towards the ground. The Equestrians bailed in a desperate attempt to survive the crash, but impacted the ground and died immediately, giving Applejack two more kills.
Almost immediately, another Mosquito shot by her, placing some new bullet-holes in her cockpit windshield. AJ flipped and rotated to face her opponent who had done the same. She spotted the pilot, whose name appeared on her head’s up display. LetsDaringDoThis. Rainbow Dash. Immediately the two rivals opened fire, ascending and descending in an attempt to make their opponent miss. The farmpony rolled, banked, and dropped, but couldn’t shake the Pegasus. Rainbow proved to be the better pilot; she was nearly undamaged, while Applejack’s Reaver was smoking from the hits she’d taken. As her fuselage lit on fire, Applejack knew she had only one option left. She leveled out her thrusters and slammed on the Afterburners, shooting forward. Rainbow put in the last few shots and exploded the Reaver, realizing only too late what her plan was. Before she could dodge, the charred wreckage of Applejack’s fighter smashed into Rainbow’s, sending the remains of both planes hurtling towards Auraxis.
Applejack and Pinkie Pie logged off, laughing at the destruction they had caused to the Equestrian Republic.
“Ah wish Ah could’a seen the look on Dash’s face!”
“I bet she was as mad as a scientist! Which makes me wonder, why aren’t there ever any happy scientists? You know, maybe I should be Equestria’s first Happy Scientist!”
“Whatever you say, Pinkie.”
As the farmpony closed the game, a message appeared on her loading screen.
Game Update 1, coming soon! New weapons, balance passes, map updates, and an entire new vehicle! See you on Auraxis, soldier!
Author's Note
Really sorry about the long wait on this chapter. I've rediscovered my skills and I'm much more motivated to put out more chapters now. Hopefully you will have as much fun reading them as I will writing them!
Another notice: I am currently doing an editing pass on the other chapters, making sure they're up to par. If there's any mistakes you know about in this or others, I implore you to let me know! Constructive criticism isn't a myth, unlike Bigfoot or NC tactics.
Twilight rather enjoyed her job. It was very relaxing to sit at 500 meters away from a base, stare through her scope, and every so often turn a pony’s head into paste. Whenever a few bullets strayed her way, she cloaked and took cover behind the massive crystal spire while her opponent realized the futility of their efforts and went back to getting shot by her. The snowy field between her hill and the huddled cluster of buildings was an easy firing range for those that foolishly decided to chase her. Three ponies had tried that. Their bodies lay as warnings to the rest. Off in the distance, a snowstorm brewed. Esamir was a wild beast, but with the tools gifted to her by Luna, the unicorn made the most of the hostile landscape.
Unfortunately, Rarity could not log on today. She- Oh, pause that thought for a moment.
Twilight held her breath. Within the base, a foolish Conglomareate soldier paused on a walkway. The unicorn pulled the trigger, and unleashed a supercharged bolt of plasma at 700 meters-per-second. It landed into her target’s helmet in .71 seconds and atomized their head. In 1.4 seconds she heard the echo from the nearby mountain. She pushed the battery back into the rifle once it finished venting heat.
As I was saying, Rarity could not log in. Twilight could not wait for her to play together; Game Update 1 had launched, with a plethora of new features. It was too thrilling, and so the lavender unicorn opted to play alone for now. She had already purchased one of the new weapons: A silenced Cerberus pistol hung attached to her belt.
Off in the distance, a strange plume of dust raced towards her. She tried to decipher what it was, but the snow was too bright for her to notice the telltale shimmering. Only once the mysterious cloud had gotten too close did she hear the sound of the cloaked Flash. She pulled out her Cerberus and sent three shots toward it before diving out of the way. It decloaked, revealing two Conglomareate Snipers out to assassinate her. They hopped off, brandishing Cyclone SMGs. She opened fire, downing one with just a couple headshots. The other Sniper aimed and fired, grazing Twilight as she cloaked and fled. Hiding in between two crystals, she decloaked long enough to fire a Sensor Dart. She watched as her opponent slowly followed her path. Eventually the pony passed in front of her right before her cloak ran out of energy. She stepped out behind the NC soldier and put them down with a flurry of shots from her Cerberus.
She decided her position was compromised. Just as she looked on the map for a new position to set up shop, a bitter wind blew from her headphones. The snowstorm arrived, and her visibility was dropped tenfold. She decided the best course of action was to set up inside the base she was just assaulting rather than risk getting lost and frozen in the blizzard. She carefully made her way in towards the buildings and eventually found an entrance. Inside was an Infantry Terminal, which she quickly uploaded an override code to. The display changed from Blue to Purple, and she switched classes to a Mechanic. With Proximity Mines, Ammunition, and a Turret, she found a defensible location in a nearby building and set up a camp. Nearly immediately, a small group of soldiers began entering the building. Their friendly conversation was cut short by the mine around the door sending a volatile explosive into the air and blasting them back outside. Two of the four soldiers died, and the other two ran for help.
Twilight heard various shouts outside before another group of Conglomareates entered, ready for whatever awaited them inside. What they found was a MANA turret pointed at them, opening fire and shredding them apart. Twilight massacred them without mercy. A slow trickle of soldiers ran in, getting cut down faster than they entered. A grenade rolled in and began billowing smoke, but her HUD allowed her to see her targets beyond. Just when the smoke cleared, she eyed a target on the other side of the room. An NC Alicorn, bearing down on her. She opened fire, only for her rounds to be simply absorbed. Its wings flared as it activated the new Aegis Shield, and marched forward unharmed. Twilight quickly abandoned the turret and ran past the Alicorn before it could deactivate the shield and open fire. Shotgun rounds slammed into the side of the doorway as she sprinted into the blinding snow.
Twilight cloaked and ducked into a nearby building, believing she was safe. Over her speakers, a familiar voice called out to her over Proximity Chat.
“Come on out, Twi. Ah know yer here somewhere. Ah promise to make yer death swift.”
“Applejack? Is that you?” Applejack's voice was slightly roboticized by the mechanical Alicorn suit she was wearing.
“Yes’m. I reckon you think Ah’ll spare ya on account of ya bein’ mah friend.”
“I know you wouldn’t. I’m simply trying to distract you long enough to hack a ride out of here.”
Twilight finished uploading the override code to the Transport Terminal. She slammed her hoof down on the green button and assembled a Harasser. The buggy dropped onto the vehicle pad and sped off down the road. Applejack galloped to the spawn room and back, switching to a Mechanic and fabricating a Flash to give chase. With her Racer Chassis upgraded all the way, it was a simple task of following the road until she found Twilight calmly driving through the snowy hills. Her hoof slid over to the red button on the handlebar and activated the Basilisk .50 cal mounted on the ATV, and began sending armor-piercing rounds into the back of the heretic’s Harasser.
Twilight did the only sensible thing: slamming on the brakes and reversing as fast as she could. Applejack couldn’t react to the familiar maneuver in time and crashed into the back of the Harasser before being smashed to pieces and killed.
Applejack slammed her hooves on her desk in frustration. “Ah should’ve seen that comin’! Curse that rotten no-good tech-lovin’ purple heretic! Ah’ll git her…”
Connected.
Rarity logged onto Herdspeak and Planetside just as Twilight returned to the Warpgate.
“Darling, you play this game far too much. The update launched at midnight, and you’ve been playing since it did! It’s now eight in the morning. I implore you to get some rest. This war isn’t going to end while you’re asleep, I assure you.”
Nothing came from Twilight’s end of the channel. After a short pause, a thud played through Rarity’s designer headphones, followed by light snoring.
Surprisingly, Spike responded in the librarian’s stead. “There’s a spot just behind her ear that, when pushed ever so gently, puts her to sleep immediately. I’ll log her off and get her into bed. Oh, and you’re welcome, by the way.”
User left your channel.
“Now this is more like it. A cup full a’ cider, a field full a’ targets, and a Vanguard full a’ tank shells.” Applejack fired another Vanguard round. An unfortunate LS Medic caught it, the explosion charring the snow underneath. How snow burnt, Applejack didn’t know, but she wasn’t going to question it now. Pinkie Pie was her gunner, firing the top-mounted Kobalt at any targets Applejack didn’t already annihilate. Beyond them, Elli Amp Station lay in the distance, providing a steady stream of soldiers to be pummeled. Applejack was part of a distraction force; a column of Vanguards and Lightnings meant to pummel the front of the Amp Station while several Sunderers moved in behind. She was fine with the role. It wasn’t glorious, but it also certainly wasn’t low-pay. A volatile Plasma rocket soared towards her, but the slow projectile was easily evaded. Applejack simply backed down the hill behind her and the rocket flew over her head.
“Another pathetic rocket. I can dodge anythin’ ya throw at me, varmints!”
Rarity was leading a squad of Earth Ponies to their objective. Unfortunately, the objective was not only covered in enemy tanks, but were the enemy tanks. Several ground assaults proved fruitless. The open field between the Amp Station and the armor column was suicide. However, almost as if a friendly threw a flash grenade at her face, an incredibly bright idea overtook Rarity’s mind.
“Everypony, follow me to this terminal. We’re going to make good use of that fabulous new Rocket Launcher we just obtained.”
Pinkie was having a wonderful time firing her little Machine Gun away. Sure, it wasn’t as explosively fantastic as Applejack’s Titan HEAT cannon, but it got the job done. Applejack’s Rival Chassis made it easy and fun to dodge those pesky S1 rounds, and they’d barely been hit at all.
“Applejack, when do you think they’re going-” The confectioner was cut short. A bright blue streak smashed into the Vanguard’s hull as fast as a bullet. Followed by another. And another. Applejack could dodge slow rockets, but not armor-piercing bullets. The tank had barely started moving backwards when a fourth round pierced the Vanguard’s armor and it exploded. Pinkie’s death screen was filled with damage taken from a strange new weapon: A Lancer. The final shot was dealt by a certain Passion4Fashion, also known as Rarity.
“Oooh, I can’t believe they did that!” As Pinkie looked for the Sunderer they had snuck into the Amp Station, she heard another explosion. A Lightning near her body vanished from the map. Slowly, more and more tanks succumbed to the unavoidable Lancer barrage. The few smart ones turned and ran, taking shelter in the Forward Base they had taken. “They’ve cleaned up our tanks like I have to do after one of my big parties… Neither of those are fun… Ohmigosh, we have to stop them! They’ll take away our freedom cupcakes and replace them with like, lightbulbs or something! Do you know how bad lightbulbs taste! Trust me, I’ve tried. Bandages also taste pretty bad, but that’s not entirely relevant. Unless the Luna want us to eat bandages too, in which case that’d also be terrible!”
After a moment, Applejack turned her speakers back on. “Right, uh, whatever you just said.”
Pinkie spawned at a Sunderer in the rear of the base as a Sniper. She pulled out a Blitz SMG and a shiny Commissioner Revolver. Before Applejack could suggest where to go, Pinkie sprinted East towards the front of the base. The Vertical Generator just exploded, providing a route to the Capture Point. The route was not clear of safe, however, and the Luna had assembled plenty of soldiers to halt the incursion into their Amp Station. Granted, the LS Warpgate was nearly on the other side of the continent, so it technically belonged to the NC, but they didn’t care. It halted the NC advance to Eisa Tech, which is the only reason they were holding it in the first place.
Pinkie cloaked and squeezed past an LS Alicorn before ducking underneath a stairway. Once her cloak recharged, she jumped over a railing and dashed up the stairs. The pony ran up behind the sovereign and shoved her knife into their back.
“Tag, you’re it!”
The pony crumpled to the ground, and Pinkie hacked the terminal. The main shields came back online, preventing her from escaping, but it was immediately overloaded again. Perfect. She swapped to the Lightning light tank and constructed one; transferring into the control systems once it materialized. Normally the tank would automatically drive a few feet forward, but the shield stopped it immediately. Once she gained control, she turned the cannon around and faced a large group of confused Luna. She hoofed the firing control on her Viper cannon, and unloaded a barrage of explosive rounds onto the terrified ponies before her. She turned towards a Magrider repairing in the bay and shredded the weak rear armor. The hovertank exploded, charring the poor Mechanic repairing it before then crushing them with the flaming debris.
Almost immediately, a squad of Earth Ponies entered the room. The began opening fire on her Lightning with Lancer bolts, peppering the tank’s front armor. As the vehicle began smoking from the damage, Pinkie floored the accelerator and drove straight toward the other shield, flattening an Earth Pony in the process. The controls inside the Lightning ignited, and Pinkie popped out of the tank. The generator on the edge of the base blew up again, dropping the impenetrable teal shield in front of her. Pinkie ran into the open field, chased by a squad of Earth Ponies. She dodged and turned, evading their LMG rounds. She turned around for a moment and threw her Mag-Cutter, yelling, “Catch!” The knife landing perfectly in the face of the most colorful Earth Pony, who just so happened to be named Passion4Fashion. Pinkie had no time to gloat or celebrate, and finally turned into a doorway. On the other end of the room was an Infantry Terminal, which she quickly overrode.
The squad of Luna entered the room, greeted by an Alicorn equipped with two Hacksaw shotguns. Two Earth Ponies were dropped to the floor immediately, followed by a third who tried to escape. A concussion grenade detonated on a wall, dazing Pinkie, but she just held down the fire button and slaughtered the sovereigns. A desperate Luna fired a rocket, but missed and was torn apart before they could escape. Another Earth Pony jumped past Pinkie’s cannons and tried to unload a Nova shotgun into her heavy armor. Pinkie responded by swinging her head to the left, slicing through the Luna’s armor with her horn, and finished the soldier off with a shot from each Hacksaw. With the final kill, a large, blue Hacksaw ribbon appeared on her screen.
Friendly forces finally moved onto the point and locked down the spawn room. The Luna Sovereignty tried desperately to save the base, but eventually the SCU shields fell and the New Conglomareate stormed the generator. It was an easy cap, and soon the holographic banners around Elli turned Blue. 4 small bases stood between the entire NC battalion and the ultimate prize: Eisa Tech Plant, currently under the control of the LS. Closing in quickly from Freyr was the ER, who would arrive first. One hour remained on the Alert, titled, “Technological Advancement”. It was a mad dash to see who would be controlling Eisa in the end, and the reward was a large pile of Certs to anybody involved. Pinkie and Applejack were determined to win, but unfortunately, so were their 4 friends.
